Hall Pass: Should they stay or should they go?

An ongoing struggle in classrooms has some teachers and support professionals confused about when to let students take bathroom breaks. The reason? Students using these breaks to skip class, cause trouble in the halls, or even cheat on tests.

But if a student is denied the trip to the toilet, health issues (like damaged kidneys) may arise.

While it’s recommended that all people use the bathroom every two to three hours to avoid health problems, it’s unreasonable to expect teachers to track each student’s restroom use. The general rule of thumb is, depending on how well they know their students’ behavior, teachers can decide if a bathroom break request is genuine.

“Not all children have a mature bladder function and some have to go more often than others,” says Chris Cooper, M.D., director of pediatric urology at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital. “Not letting them go leads to a vicious cycle, which may cause them to go more than they need to. I’d advise teachers to take it on an individual basis, realizing that some children will have to go more often than others.”

When it comes to other kids, especially older ones, “you’ve got to maintain some semblance of order,” Cooper says, “and if some kids are typically abusing the privilege to get out and go to the bathroom, that’s a problem.”

—Maren MacIntyre